UNKNOWN

Waikato Times, Volume 87, Issue 13245, 29 July 1916, Page 2 (Supplement)

UNKNOWN

(By Wifliain A. Robson.)

_ What- can the raiders see when they are over England ? That is one of the most important and interesting of the many questions which present themselves in connection with the Zeppelin raids. , , There are several iactors in relation to this question which are, apparently, conflicting. First, the captured crew of tlio LIS were, when interviewed, unanimous in asserting that tliev could distinguish nothing at all below them. At the same moment Berlin issued a communique naming the exact localities where bombs were alleged to have been dropped, and it must lie remembered that, as these communiques are always issued the day following a raid, the information contained in theni is almost coi't-'unly obtained iroin the Zeppelin crews' themselves, as details could hardly be collected so quickly from •"neutral observers. There is also, however, the fact that the. places named in the enemy's reports are hopelessly inaccurate. As to this. it can quite safely be assumed that the captured crew 'had explicit instructions from Commander Breithsunf not to disclose to what extent objects on the ground could be distinguished from a Zeppelin several thou -and feet high - a quite I utile precaution lor him to take, lor v>< are easily able tc. ascertain the fads lrom tho-e ni our own airmen who make night flights. S., far as iiu- Berlin eommnniques to. we must remember how extremely anxious Ccrmany is j uv,iiy tier actions to neutrai countries, and. these reports are obviously prepared lor their edification. If the Zeppelins_ travel to England and bomb places 01 strict y military importance- a-~ Berlin inl-ely asserts' on each occasion-—iliev would he perfectly justified ill ihecyesof neutral-. The (Jerman Naval Stall, tin relore. invariably insert the names of such places ill their communiques, whether their airship arc able to s; i v if i hey have been any v. ihtc

lie::!' ihein or unl. What a. tunllv can In- soon at nighttime I'rnui n Zeppelin a mile or two i,mli rlopoiuN to a largo orient mi certain conditions. The exaer height does not manor vorv much, for v*ry little more cnn 1)0 seen at, say. fiOOOft than at fiOOOft. What docw mat tor considerably is the state nf the atmosphere The slightest touch of fog or mi-t obscures practionlly everything from above oxocm. perhaps the division oi la ml from sea, and in;:, furiously enough, ifar more impenetrable li'om above than irom below. Tho raiders, however, generally eomo on floar evenings, and it- is then p rfertlv easy for them to distinguish the coast. The lino of The mi is, indeed, tlio "rraiost. advantage ik«it they could possibly have. The decided character of the coast line enables the air-hip cvm. mnnder to know ahno-i exact srnt where his craft enters England ami also naturally shows him apprcxiniaiojy hihen'ring'the whole rime he is cruising round'the. coastal counties, U is when he r; 0 < further inland thai his difficulties login. Under the striivieni ligmm? vo?illations at present in force, ihe whole oi the count r\ ap;;i ar- as a black masfrom above with ■■< spar-o imtwrrk c: dim lirrhvs sprinkled over it. li impossible for the raiders 10 iviy mi their vision, cither from ihe naked oye or with '/lasses, \ > '-how thorn their ica'itv enee the\ 1; ivo h- t sbh; of ill-.? coast," They ilicrei. re have i'i fly ! y compass. Now, an aviaier's ooinna-s is an extremely tricky inst.iumont to use at night time. In day mne, aided by land marks a pilot can fly bv compass with rlmcsi perft e: accuracy, but in t".o dark it i- quite a different matfr. for the siimvle reason that, a compass dee-, nor. in-dicaie r.lio drift caused 10 ihe aircraft by a sidewind, wliich is a very frequent (ccurience. st dp:, drift.

The raiders generally pa\ their visitwlien there is u d« .:d calm or a slight cast wind high up—nor. a westerly wind as is often asserted, to h In them hurry home again: -•> t!;at, u:ilc-s the wind i? absolutely parallel tr> th-ir direct iimof tli.ah;. there will l>e an ::pprecinb!ramount < i drift io i\:o Zeppelin. This r.ido-driit is a I W'-- <■ : '' i? ; ' becauso quite a gcn-ile drift-wind v.il! take the airship miles off its course. In the (!.iv time side-drifts can he registered hy a simple instrumciti. Th:> is a flat, circular glass, marked with two or three thin parallel lines whicn c,\n le turned so that the linos point in the direction in which the machine is flTin?. The pilot looks through this jllas*, selects an object- on the ground in the direct line of flight, and watches whether this object on the .around progresses straight between the paral e' line-. If it dees, his machioo is keeping a steady course; if ir docs not, it '■ drifting, and he can easily estimate tho amount, of ride-drift. This, ir can 1° s'ri, is simple enough in daytime, but in the darkness there is no object on the ground which can bo perceived with sufficient clearness to employ the instrument successfully. Here wo have tho whole secret of the strange mixture of accuracy and falsehood in the German reports as to the places they have jiwnvoached.

Tins, of course, applies only It inland raids. As. previous'}' slated the so:; and tho river arc infallible enides to the coastal towrs ard to London itself. Ft has stated thai submarines escort the air raiders on their trios i^ r tho pumoso of guiding them; if this is correct, thev would do ?o lor the sr" 1 all important reis-m, to warn them should thev bo drifting to either rdd\